| Barnes' Notes on the Bible And I will deliver thee and this city - The purport of this promise is, that he and the city should be finally and entirely delivered from all danger of invasion from the Assyrians. It might be apprehended that Sennacherib would collect a large army, and return; or that his successor would prosecute the war which he had commenced. But the assurance here is given to Hezekiah that he had nothing more to fear from the Assyrians (see the notes at Isaiah 31:4-5; Isaiah 37:35). In the parallel place in 2 Kings 20:6, it is added. 'I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.' In the parallel passage also, in 2 Kings 20:7-8, there is inserted the statement which occurs in Isaiah at the end of the chapter Isaiah 38:21-22. It is evident that those two verses more appropriately come in here. Lowth conjectures that the abridger of the history omitted those verses, and when he had transcribed the song of Hezekiah, he saw that they were necessary to complete the narrative, and placed them at the end of the chapter, with proper marks to have them inserted in the right place, which marks were overlooked by transcribers. It is, however, immaterial where the statement is made; and it is now impossible to tell in what manner the transposition occurred. Clarke's Commentary on the BibleI will defend this city - The other copy, 2 Kings 20:6, adds:" for mine own sake, and for the sake of David my servant;" and the sentence seems somewhat abrupt without it. Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleAnd I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria,.... So that it seems that Hezekiah's sickness was while the king of Assyria was near the city of Jerusalem, and about to besiege it, and before the destruction of the Assyrian army; unless this is said to secure Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from all fears of a return of that king, to give them fresh trouble: and I will defend this city; from the present siege laid to it, ruin threatened it, or from any attack upon it, by the Assyrian monarch. Geneva Study BibleAnd I will deliver thee and this city {c} from the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city. (c) He not only promises to prolong his life, but to give him rest and quietness from the Assyrians, who might have renewed their army to revenge their former defeat. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary6. In 2Ki 20:8, after this verse comes the statement which is put at the end, in order not to interrupt God's message (Isa 38:21, 22) by Isaiah (Isa 38:5-8). will deliver-The city was already delivered, but here assurance is given, that Hezekiah shall have no more to fear from the Assyrians. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary38:1-8 When we pray in our sickness, though God send not to us such an answer as he here sent to Hezekiah, yet, if by his Spirit he bids us be of good cheer, assures us that our sins are forgiven, and that, whether we live or die, we shall be his, we do not pray in vain. See 2Ki 20:1-11. |